Started with a loan of Rs. 80 the Cooperative transformed into the most successful in India with a sales figure of Rs. 5.6 billion. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat was founded in 1959 with the goal of empowering women by providing employment opportunities for them.
Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is a Women's organisation manufacturing various products from Papad, Appalam, Masala, Gehu Atta, Chapati, SASA Detergent Powder, SASA Detergent Cake (Tikia), SASA Liquid Detergent.
The organisation is wide-spread, with it's Central Office at Mumbai and it's 81 Branches and 27 Divisions in different states all over India.
Lijjat Papad was born when a group of 7 Gujarati women had an idea of starting a franchise using their skill in cooking so that they could make a living.
These seven women then took a Rs. 80 loan , they started with a production of 4 packets of papad. Chaganbapa becomes their advisor who told them to never comprise on the quality when they first produced cheap quality papads to sell at a low price. As we shall later see Lijjat became a household name known for quality but affordable papads.
Inside three months of running as a cooperative they recruited 25 women who made papads.This figure later increased to 300 by the end of the third year. At this point, it became a challenge for the seven founders to accommodate all of them. So the kneaded dough was distributed to members who used their homes for making papads. The papads were then sent back for the package.
Their first customers were neighbours from surrounding homes.
The franchise which was simply known Lijjat(Tasty of Gujarati) later become Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad.
Today Lijjat Papad is considered as one of the most successful business venture that is own by women for women empowerment. It helps women not willing to work outside their homes to contribute to family income.
Source and Credit:https://bizztor.com/in/lijjat-paped-inspirational-story/